WEEDS OF MAINE. 283 



select a time when the weather aud soil are in the driest state, 

 and plow, harrow and rake the roots into heaps, with a spring- 

 toothed or other horse-rake, aud when dry burn them. Repeat 

 the operation till all are extirpated. Or the roots may be fermented 

 and killed in layers, with manure, forming compost. As every 

 fragment of the roots will vegetate in moist soil, harrowing will 

 only extend the evil in such soils. E. Marks, of Onondaga Co., 

 N. Y., states in a former number of The Cultivator, that he 

 destroyed this grass in one season by smothering — plowing it 

 under seven times during the season, each successive plowing 

 being a little deeper until ten inches was attained." 



115. Old Witch Grass — Panicum capillare. Annual. Culm upright, often branched 

 from the base, and forming a tuft. Leaves and their sheaths very hairy. Flowers in a 

 large pyramidal, hairy compound, and very loose panicle, often purple. 



A very common grass in dry gravelly fields and waste places — 

 frequently abundant in corn fields. It appears during the latter 

 part of summer. "In autumn the dry culms break off and the 

 light divaricate panicles are rolled over the fields, by the winds, 

 until they accumulate in great quantities along the fences and 

 hedges." [Darlington.) 



116. Bahx-yard Grass — Panicum Crus-galU. Annual, Culms two to five feet high, 

 rather coarse, smooth. Leaves nine to fifteen inches long, half an inch broad. Flowers 

 in alternate spikes, arrayed in a dense panicle. 



A coarse, homely, foreigner from Europe, — very abundant in 

 moist, rich or manured soils, along sink drains, in gardens, and 

 the like. " Some experiments have been made to cultivate this 

 common species in the place of millet, to cut for green fodder. 

 It is relished by stock, and is very succulent and nutritive, while 

 its yield is large." {Flint.) It can easily be eradicated by 

 pulling, before it matures its seeds. 



117. Foxtail Grass — Setaria viridis. Annual. Cm?™ one to three feet high, branch- 

 ing near the base. Leaves three to eight inches long, lanceolate, flat. Flowers in a 

 cylindrical spike, green. Spike bristly. 



A common grass in cultivated and waste grounds, sometimes 

 called Wild Timothy, from the general resemblance of the spikes. 

 Bottle Grass — Setaria glauca — is rather more common than the 

 preceding, especially in the stubble of grain fields. There are 

 often several stems from the same root. The spikes are from two 

 to four inches long furnished with tawny or orange colored 

 bristles. Both species are from Europe. If they are not allowed 

 to go to seed they will soon disappear. 



